Wesleyan President Sends $10,000 Check To City As Thanks For Police Services During Protest

Wesleyan President: "The right to protest should not come with a price tag."

MIDDLETOWN — Wesleyan University President Michael S. Roth sent a $10,000 donation to the mayor's office on Friday as an "expression of gratitude" to the city and the police department for their services throughout the year and particularly during a "Black Lives Matter" protest on Dec. 8.

The donation was sent exactly one week after Mayor Daniel Drew billed the university $7,500 for the cost of police department overtime incurred during the student march, which closed the city's busiest intersection — at Main and Washington streets — for an afternoon.

"The demonstration necessitated the calling in of 46 additional sworn officers to ensure the safety of the public and the demonstrators," Drew wrote.

In a letter sent to Drew with the donation check, Roth expressed his gratitute for the "expert professional services" provided by the police department.

"We feel strongly that the right to protest should not come with a price tag. However, I did tell you [Drew] in a telephone conversation after the march that the University would like to show its appreciation for the city's efforts," Roth wrote.

In a brief letter sent Friday to Wesleyan President Michael Roth, Drew...

Drew responded Friday afternoon, saying that the city will use the donation to cover the cost of the police overtime during the protest. The mayor also said he would ask the city's common council to appropriate the remaining balance of the donation – about $2,500 – for the Martin Luther King Jr. Scholarship Fund "in honor of Dr. King's lifelong mission to effectuate powerful and positive social change through peaceful means."

Students organized the event to protest police brutality and racism in the wake of deaths in Ferguson, Mo., where police Officer Darren Wilson shot and killed unarmed teenager Michael Brown, and in New York City, where Eric Garner died after an officer arresting him for selling cigarettes applied a chokehold.

Grand juries in both cases decided not to indict the police officers involved, and protests have been organized around the country.

While estimates varied, a minimum of 300 students chanting and carrying signs participated in the march from Exley Science Center on the Wesleyan campus to the intersection of Main and Washington streets. They also held a "die-in" at the intersection in which protesters stretched out in the road.

Police said that they had tried earlier in the day to negotiate a less disruptive route, but student organizers refused.

The event was peaceful, and police said the students were respectful and some thanked the police officers for keeping the demonstration safe.

Police said after the group of students left the Main Street area, a second, smaller group of students returned a short time later and the intersection had to be closed again.